Reflection on How the Australian Federal Model Fits Shangri-La

Shangri-La is a strong economical country buried inside the Kunlun Mountain. At present the Crown exercises the power and it does not have any official constitution. However, they have Legislative council (17 members), Cartons (5) and the High Court which is the higher court of appeal. All of which are appointed by Rani Plantagenet (Hereditary ruler) after Queens approval.

Rani Plantagenet wants to implement a representative form of federal government which allows the inhabitants and the local regional government bodies to express their opinions in the recent affairs. Also, she favors in making the High Court independent for judicial affairs. She thinks that the Australian federal model will be more suitable for Shangri-La.

I would agree to replicate Australian federal system, if it is followed exactly as per the written constitution. It would certainly create a structured accountability and promote institutional and political diversity. However, there is always a gap, the below findings and discussion will explain the actual workaround of federalism in practice in Australia compared to its theoretical approach.

Summary On Division of Power

Australia is considered to have a representative parliamentary democracy where the power is divided among the federal parliament and the state parliament. Federal government can mostly make laws pertaining to international trade, foreign affairs, quarantine, defence, immigration, taxation, banking, insurance, marriage, currency and pensions. State government laws usually covers local governments, education, school, health, environment and emergency service operations.

The Council of Australian Government (COAG) assist the interaction between different levels of government. This happens to be a forum where the ministers of different levels work together on common issues managed by both the levels of government ex: environment, transportation, customer rights etc. However, section 51 provides the consent to the state parliament to refer matters on the federal parliament. Both of them have their level of responsibilities which may overlap in few cases. In case of any disagreement, the High Court of Australia resolve the issue.

The Queen has been provided limited powers which includes giving Royal Assent to law passed by parliament and beginning the process of federal elections. Which is exercised by the Governor-General after consulting the Prime Minister.

Main Findings and Discussion

Federalism touches the key aspect of Rani Plantagenet requirement of creating democratic form of government as it promotes citizenship participation and allows the people to present their interest in the political matters irrespective of your socio-economic status. This approach eliminates the ideology of Cass Sunstein which states, “when a particular social group is unable to gain adequate representation at one particular level of government it may nevertheless have the opportunity of popular representation at a different level in the political process”. Australian federal structure supports and protects the rights of such groups and ensures equal participation in all matters.

It also expedites individual rights and public welfare increases the government’s accountability towards the local citizens and their growing concern, for example: Sunstein’s federal model which stresses on ‘right to exist’, where a person has the right to move from one political area to another in case where he/she is being burdened or victimized by the state. Citizens have the due right to transfer to another state where they feel policies are adaptable

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It creates a space for recognizing the community and economic issues that cannot be attained at a federal level and promotes the realization of a need of regional/state government to manage the affairs of that region.

Moreover, to maintain equality and justice and to make the judicial system independent and strong the Australian Act of 1986 makes the High Court the ultimate court of appeal and abolished the appeal to the Privy Court. Unless the High Court issues a certificate for intervention of the Privy Court. For example, in matters concerning the lawful relation between the federal government and state or between 2 or more states. This scenario has occurred only once in 1912.

Recommendations

However there always happens to be a gap between the theoretical and the actual operation of the Federalism, which impacts the life of an individual and a community as a whole. If fixed, it could be the strongest government body.

Federalism limitation for the dominant role in the common wealth when the constitution 157 was drafted indicated at the major power for Senate during the Australasian Convention debates made Henry Bournes Higgins reject the constitutional bill. Also, the Australian federal structure happens to be more sensitive and considerate towards the Minority community thereby creating socio economic injustice and inequality. Other example of inequality and injustice happens to be absence of government regulations in prime areas like education, health etc. For example, Jeffrey Gillespie identifies in 1990 that the state was not successful in safeguarding the right of the poor. He stressed further that it was mainly due to direct involvement of the federal authorities the interest of the Native group was secured.

Federalism can also compromise the ability of the Australian constitutions and political bodies to reallocate the resources and national wealth. This basically constraints the promotion of equality and creates social injustice ex: The federal parliament to state sovereignty had the ability to restrict the national parliament’s capacity to transfer resources to other nation parts. State actually happens to be an incorrect platform for socio economic factors, the uniform distribution of goods and commodities/ assets must be directed to the federal government. Limitations needs to be imposed on the power of the state parliament.

Moreover, the federalism is more market-oriented model. According to libertarian theorists, “a perceived virtue of the Australian federal structure is that it militates against government or state intervention and that it prevents governments from unduly intruding in the operation of a free market”. This nature attracts the attention to libertarian paradigm of Wolfgang Kasper, who links the federal structure to interstate competition and decreasing levels of government regulation, and investments in public sector. The Australian federal structure can block public interference and inhibit development of socially oriented welfare programs.

The strongest point of Australian federal structure is it incorporates power balance which contains the right to remove the Prime Minister or the Governor-General if they act wrongly. It is impossible to dissolve the head of the government in many nations. This assist to keep the democracy stable. This creates a responsibility, pressure and accountability on the government to act in a right way and serve the citizens.

Conclusion

Despite of all the above factors I would still consider incorporating the Australian federal structure with few amendments basis the findings shared, as the written constitution of federalism safeguard and promotes democratic form of government. If the written constitution is followed accurately, it can support socio economic development of the country which would further be strengthened by an independent judicial system.

References

1. 2016, The Australian Trade Commission (Austrade), Sydney, viewed 26th April 2020, file:///C:/Users/user/Downloads/Australian-levels-of-Government.pdf
2. Australia Act 1986, Wikipedia, viewed 26th April 2020, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia_Act_1986
3. 2016, The role of the Queen and the Governor-General in Australian democracy, viewed 26th April 2020, http://www.cefa.org.au/ccf/role-queen-and-governor-general-australian-democracy
4. Paquette Jonathan, 2019, Federalism, viewed 26th April 2020, 10.1007/978-3-030-12680-3_1.